Krestel

I just want to toot my own horn here and be a bit pround...sorry...not sorry. I'm 5+ years post surgery, 51 yo and playing beach volleyball (indoors)! I cant say Im all that good at it, but I try to play 2x a week and can run a 5k in 35 mins. Im the one in the black shirt and tan tights. From 315 lbs to about 175/180 lbs now and loving life in a whole new and sustainable way!

PS. The saggy butt is still even after getting a lift and skin removed.

I didnt need to reward myself really...the reward was being able to do things that i couldnt do before like clothes shopping, playing sports, and tieing my shoes while being able to breathe! Although, I do spend a bit of money on my new love, beach volleyball! If you guys find an indoor beach volleyball center, try it out. It is soooooo much fun and feels like you're literally on the beach even in the middle of gloomy winter.

I so hear you!...im in the exact same phase as you are. We both are backsliding due to old problems and just plain old life getting in the way. First of all....give yourself a break. I literally weighed myself this evening after feeling like i was back up to my old weight. But of course that is all in my head...I was at my maintenence weight and doing just fine. We forget that we need to trust the surgery as well.

That said...it's always good to do a mind and body reset. I was thinking about treating myself just like i did after about 3 months after my surgery where i was cautious about everything. Try looking new angles...

Personally, i think im having problems with balancing my exercise with my calories. In other words, im eating too much because my mind thinks i need to eat more after working out so much. So...that needs to get worked on as well...

That said...these forums are gold! ...i havent been here a while myself, but i know that the ppl and information here is THE best in the world!

On 2/20/2021 at 5:50 PM, HealthyLifeStyle said:

My bum is completely gone, and it hurts when I sit down even after 10 minutes or so.

I used to drink ice cold Water, and now can only drink room temp.

The bum problem is REAL! My tailbone huts like a MF. Ive started just today using a rolled up towel like a donut pillow to deal with tailbone issues. I wonder if I'm going to have to have towels with me everywhere just for this.

Hehe...Ive gone the other way, even though I am cold most of the time, I can ONLY drink ice cold Water with TONS of ice. In Europe we dont do ice, but since I grew up in the US, ice is a normal thing for me. We even went so far as to buy an ice machine. (We can't get water to the wall the fridge sits on.😔) So ppl kinda laugh at me when I go around with cold coffee year-round.

On 1/29/2021 at 10:24 PM, Holodisplay said:

A few things I wasn't expecting 5 months out from surgery.

6. I would have to get smaller shoes. I was a size ten 1/2 in shoes and now 8.5.

5. Also always being cold, I wear thermals almost every day to work , but I live in a cold environment. I always wear a scarf.

4. Loosing hair was a bit traumatic for me, but it has stabilized

3. the amount of time I think of food has been transferred into new coping skills, like crafts with yarn and having fun science experiments with my kids.

2. the need for silence to be alone with my thoughts.

1. how anxious I get when buying new clothes. what are some surprise that you had?

5. I feel ya there about being cold...I have started wearing polyester or cotton thermals at work or even wool ones (gosh they are so nice nowadays) during the winter. The worst part is my feet and hands that are cold year round...even in the summer. That could be circulation problems though.

4. My hair never really had a problem. I have tons of really fine hair so I may not have noticed. BUT now that I have lost my weight and am almost 50% of what I used to be...ive taken advantage of my weight and now have a really short pixie cut! I've always thought that pixie cuts look better on thiner ppl...and now I am one. That and when I play beach volleyball it's so easy to just run Water through it.

3. Hehe...I think having to do things with your hands is also a covid thing right now. Ive just started as well.

2. As a teacher, I LOVE my alone time. When ppl are going on about what large events they are going to during the weekend, I am thinking about either sitting alone with Netflix or just walking in the woods with the dogs.

1. I was sooooo anxious before as well when dealing with the whole clothes issue. It took me a few cautious times to go in to stores during off times and discretely try on clothes. I always started with the biggest size and went down until it was just a bit too small. (Women's sizes were usually too short (Im a 5'11" woman), so I had to look at the smaller guys sizes.) It took me a while progressing to more normal behaviours but now I am slowly becoming a clothes hog again. Even more now that I've been at around the same weight for about a year (and still losing a bit...but more building muscle now), it's only now that I am getting it through my head that certain clothes size wont get smaller anymore....because I am a just normal human being! Now, it's me choosing styles and materials that I like. Ive discovered that I LOVE tights in the summer when before they were a HUGE taboo. (I am never going back to shorts because of skin hanging on my legs though.)

Much love to you all!

4 hours ago, Jaelzion said:

I'm just two years out. I'm still learning to navigate maintenance but I have no regrets or complaints of any kind. When I need to lose a few pounds, I cut out processed foods, lower carbs, and focus on Protein. So far it works for me.

Yeah! A surgery twin almost. I totally agree with what you wrote. I feel the same way, I want to lose a few more pounds but dont want to yo-yo them.

2 years ago and going strong. Absolutely no regrets after more than 130 lbs down. I feel like Im back to eating in a total normal way, but I think that is due to my body giving me "normal" signals now that I never had before. So even post-GP other than the weight, I dont notice any differences. The only thing I do now food related is food journaling and watching out for extra fatty/sugary foods in order to not dump. Im also back to playing sports and have a WONDERFUL time doing them. Im working on gaining muscle now though and dont know how well that will go.

Oh, I jumpstarted my weight loss but getting rid of sugar AND sweeteners from my diet. I also limited bread. This REALLY helped me get a grip on things just before surgery and then when surgery came around I really didnt want anything sweet for THE longest time after that.

I got an Apple iWatch and used the calorie meter to tell me approximately how many calories im using. So even though Im still trying to lose my last pounds, Im giving myself a mental break and just trying to stay under those calories. Yeah, it might be higher than the 1500 calories, but by losing over 100 pounds, i think I need a mental break. My weight has been steady which Im greatful for and Im sure Im not eating correctly and am possibly deluding myself. BUT I think we all need to mentally give ourselfves a break after all the hard work we've put in. Either that or Im just rationalizing my bad eating. Who knows? Just being honest.

Getting off sweeteners (artificial and natural) can really help as well.

I think the toughest thing is to find protein/meal replacements that you like. I still love my iced vanilla Protein Powder coffee drink. In fact, I still have it for Breakfast and lunch. For me the higher the Protein, the more full I feel. Also make sure you get enough sleep and Water. If you dont have enough, willpower will go out the window.

From the movie Mama Mia 2, "I think my soulmate might be carbs." "And mine must be wine." Best quote ever!

Anyone out there got any sayings...I came up with a one.

'You know you're a bariatric person when you avoid alcohol not because it could cause you to get really really drunk and lead to alcoholism but because you have to count the massive amount of calories when u drink it.'

I liked Water down prune juice to be honest. It helped a bit with the Constipation and for some reason tasted absolutely amazing! Also, I ate lots of ice...still do. My stomach loves the stuff! ..even when im freezing my skinny (and saggy) booty off.

Oh, I just remembered, I also drank watered down Protein water and watered down Meal Replacement shakes. Ive found at least 3-4 types of coffee flavored ones and still have them for Breakfast (with lots of ice ofc).

Looking back at all the encouragement that I got here when I had my surgery...I KNOW you can do it! Nerves are a good thing when having surgery because it reminds us that it is actual surgery and not just a safe routine.

//Digital hugs!

I didnt have any issues and I take pills that are rather large. I guess im one of the quiet masses that doesnt have many issues post-surgery. (Other than the normal..gawd it hurts moments post-surgery.)

Today I played my first (American) tackle football game (Stockholm Mean Machines) I am SUCH a rookie! I only got my pads 3 weeks ago and had to borrow all of them from the team and other players... BUT boy was it fun. I (now) play Offensive Right Guard and was deathly scared before the match but it turned out that our own team during practice hits much harder than our opponent. At 48 years old and about 16 months post GPB, I am soooo happy to have done this. I still have problems seeing myself at my weight though and think i'm still "fat" in my head even though everyone else sees me as somewhat of a bean poll (Im 5 foot 11). I also could only play this one game this season because I'm getting surgery on my foot which is what killed my playing sports when I was 19.

On the other hand, I was Googling around about football and weight issues since I dont want to gain weight from eating too much (like I did after injuring my foot but muscle is fine though) and I ran across this article about a very overweight somewhat famous player (that I had no idea about). A great read by the way. After reading the article, I wondered how he was doing now and saw the blurb in the middle. He had died at 38. So it just reminds me (my sister died from complications from obesity) that I truly need to keep "on the wagon".

Still happy but cautious....

Great job! I got my BMI order by 1 year as well...so now we have the next hurdle....keeping the weight and making it sustainable. BUT wonderful wonderful news! Has your head caught up to your weight though? It's still taking me forever to not see myself as "big" anymore.

What I dont get is the why...Why would someone troll this type of surgery? I too found the story lacking credibility, but dont understand why a person would go to this trouble. Boredom? Hate? No idea...

Ur going to be fine....it's just the few weeks before and after surgery that are the worst. The rest is a fun journey! and it is SOOOOO worth it. (Im 130 pounds down and loving it.)

Have you seen ObeseToBeast on Youtube? Your new physique really reminds me of him. You go!

Mine lasted for about 2 weeks.--the pain meda helped in the beginning but after that it was only walking around that helped...and BOY did I not want to do that. But it gets better...

It's normal to be panicing at a time like that. You dont know if you will be able to eat those things again and it sends ur mind into a spin. I was there too...

BUT I can tell you, that you will very likely still be able to eat those things again in the future once you've gotten past the surgery and weight loss. I still love to eat chocolate and such but have learned when I need to be careful and what I absolutely cant eat (which isnt much tbh). Even after a year after surgery, Im still learning things, but I dont feel like Im missing anything at all.

So deep breaths and dont think of it as jumping off a cliff. Cuz ur not!

On 6/9/2020 at 11:16 PM, ms.sss said:

...its funny because when I was bigger, I thought I was smaller than I really was. Now that I’m smaller, I think I am bigger than I really am....

This is me in a nutshell as well. Im slowly slowly coming to terms with how I look now, but I still hate buy pants since women's sizes (even longs) are too short on me. I still have to buy men's pants which infuriates me to no end.

Tylenol was all I needed for the most part. My real pain came from the gas...which there isnt much that can be done other than getting up and walking.

1 hour ago, WishMeSmaller said:

You really need to get that checked ASAP. Call your surgeon’s office now or go to the ER. Lots of different things could be causing your symptoms and you can damage your kidneys or cause infection with retention.

Agreed 100%...believe it or not, not being able to pee is a life threatening problem. Do not underestimate it! (I am NOT joking or being sarcastic AT ALL.)